Elon Musk hints at need for franchised Tesla dealerships

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 06: People walk out of a Tesla motor company dealership in the Dadeland Mall on June 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The electric car maker is trying to make a move by selling their cars, that can cost between $62,400 and $82,400, into malls and stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 06: Nicholas Craan (L) and Francesco Campoy look at a Tesla motor company car in a dealership at the Dadeland Mall on June 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The electric car maker is trying to make a move by selling their cars, that can cost between $62,400 and $82,400, into malls and stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 06: Gaelle Freer and her son Alexander LeVaillant Freer look at a Tesla motor company car in a dealership at the Dadeland Mall on June 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The electric car maker is trying to make a move by selling their cars, that can cost between $62,400 and $82,400, into malls and stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 06: Marcelo Jaramillo, assistant store manager, (2nd R) shows a Tesla motor company car in a dealership at the Dadeland Mall on June 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The electric car maker is trying to make a move by selling their cars, that can cost between $62,400 and $82,400, into malls and stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 06: People walk past a Tesla motor company dealership in the Dadeland Mall on June 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The electric car maker is trying to make a move by selling their cars, that can cost between $62,400 and $82,400, into malls and stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 06: Tesla motor company accessories hang from the wall in the recently opened dealership in the Dadeland Mall on June 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The electric car maker is trying to make a move by selling their cars, that can cost between $62,400 and $82,400, into malls and stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 06: People walk in a Tesla motor company dealership in the Dadeland Mall on June 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The electric car maker is trying to make a move by selling their cars, that can cost between $62,400 and $82,400, into malls and stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 06: A Tesla motor company car is parked in a dealership in the Dadeland Mall on June 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The electric car maker is trying to make a move by selling their cars, that can cost between $62,400 and $82,400, into malls and stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The Tesla showroom is shown at the Washington Square Mall, Friday, July 20, 2012, in Portland, Ore. Tesla Motors only has 24 stores in the world, and now one of them is at Washington Square Mall in Portland. The company produces electric cars and hopes their product will be a hit with eco-conscious Oregonians. The cars can go from zero to 60 mph in less than six seconds, all without a drop of gasoline. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 06: Marcelo Jaramillo, assistant store manager, (R) shows a Tesla motor company car in a dealership at the Dadeland Mall on June 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The electric car maker is trying to make a move by selling their cars, that can cost between $62,400 and $82,400, into malls and stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 06: Gaelle Freer looks at a Tesla motor company car in a dealership at the Dadeland Mall on June 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The electric car maker is trying to make a move by selling their cars, that can cost between $62,400 and $82,400, into malls and stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 06: Marcelo Jaramillo, assistant store manager, (R) explains how the Tesla motor company car works in a dealership at the Dadeland Mall on June 6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The electric car maker is trying to make a move by selling their cars, that can cost between $62,400 and $82,400, into malls and stores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A Tesla Model S is shown in the showroom at the Washington Square Mall, Friday, July 20, 2012, in Portland, Ore. Tesla Motors only has 24 stores in the world, and now one of them is at Washington Square Mall in Portland. The company produces electric cars and hopes their product will be a hit with eco-conscious Oregonians. The cars can go from zero to 60 mph in less than six seconds, all without a drop of gasoline. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Currently, Tesla only sells vehicles directly to customers through a network of Tesla Stores. But that may not be enough once more vehicles – the Model X and the Model 3 – arrive and demand for the electric vehicles grows in all fifty states. According to Autoline Daily host John McElroy, when he asked Musk about future growth, Musk admitted that, "We may need a hybrid system, with a combination of our own stores and some dealer franchises." That's a big turn around from Musk's previous claims that normal dealerships can't properly sell electric vehicles and that, if necessary, Tesla would try to change the laws nationwide to allow direct sales, a strategy that has had its share of successes, including surprising support from the FTC. Still, selling a few thousand vehicles a month is a lot different than selling tens of thousands, and that's the sort of thing that Tesla's legislative director Jim Chen may have been thinking about when, in a closed-door regulatory meeting in the fall of 2013, he reportedly said that Tesla would stop its factory-direct-only policy once sales increased to some unspecified level, according to Hybrid Cars. You can see the AD video below. The Tesla news is first in the line-up.